Chapter 24 #2
Frankie was with him, and suddenly, everything was different.
He still tired, but his heart and his head were at peace.
Whatever came from outside, inside he was at home with Frankie.
And since he was no longer fighting himself, he had more power to use in the fight.
He countered claws, bites, and a couple very human fists.
But this time the good guys had the advantage of numbers. It would be over soon.
He knocked the nearest wolf out while Noelle fouled the footing of the other one. He heard a yelp behind him, but didn’t know if it was Raoul or the one fighting Hazel. He spun, intending to deliver a knockout blow to the remaining wolf’s temple, his fist raised—
Freeze!
The message was blasted psychically throughout the room, but if there was any doubt, a loud voice followed next.
“Stop!”
He recognized the voice immediately. Hard to forget Emory Wolf’s command tone.
It was enough to pause Ryan’s fist, but it had a dramatic effect on the wolves.
They all dropped to the ground and gave some sign of submission, human and canine alike.
Even Ryan tilted his head to the side, exposing his throat in an instinctive act, though it was only a slight tilt.
Emory wasn’t his alpha, and so the impact was significantly lessened.
That gave him the strength to straighten up to his full height and study the situation.
First and most important, Frankie had Raoul on the ground, her hand on his neck and her knee in his back.
Her arms were bloody, but Ryan didn’t see any wounds on her body, meaning the blood was likely Raoul’s.
Behind Frankie, Hazel straightened up as well.
She wasn’t a shifter, so her head wasn’t canted to the side like everyone else’s, but she wasn’t fighting either.
No need since everyone who’d come at her was stretched out on the floor, most of them as unconscious as Delphine.
He quickly scanned the rest of the room.
Nobody moved. Everyone who could was looking at Emory, who was leaning heavily on Simon’s arm.
And behind Simon was Alyssa, Vic, and…now there was a surprise.
It was Brady, the wolf he thought had skipped the city but had apparently been around enough to bring help when the shit had hit the fan.
And then stepping around the lot of them was—hell—Captain Abraham.
Ryan’s gaze shot straight to Frankie, but she was ahead of him. She’d already reverted to her human form. Everyone else was either fully human or fully canine. That meant no shifter exposure to his very vanilla boss.
Meanwhile, Frankie looked at her father. “Dad? You’re looking better.”
Was he? To Ryan’s eyes he looked frail. The man had been a force within the shifter community, but now he leaned heavily on Simon as he gazed around the community center.
At least his physical wounds were healed.
He’d probably woken enough to shift. But some vital aspect of him had weakened considerably.
Still, his words carried loud enough into the silence.
“Is this what we’ve come to?” he asked. “Brother against sister, men against women, wolves attacking our own?” His gaze went to his two children. “How did this happen?”
Simon answered, his voice carrying throughout the room. “It’s the shit in the water. It makes us all angry.”
Emory looked to his son. “I thought it made us all strong.”
Ryan winced. That was as much as a confession as his captain would need for a temporary arrest.
Meanwhile, Frankie stepped back from her brother.
“Does this look like strength, Dad? We’re destroying ourselves and hurting everyone else in the process.
” She looked down at her brother who was slowly gaining his feet.
Or rather pushing to his four paws. He was still in his wolf form and was not about to get arrested for his crimes.
Emory shook his head. “What was I thinking?” he murmured.
Which is when Ryan understood what had happened. Frankie, too, because she spoke it out loud. “They gave you the antidote. You’re thinking clearly now.”
Her father nodded as he looked around the room. “I renounce leadership of the pack. I failed you all.”
Frankie took a sharp step forward. “No!” she cried. “It was Raoul and the serum.”
Emory spoke slowly, his words having a double meaning. “I’m not above the law,” he said, meaning both human and shifter law. He or Raoul had broken both, and as alpha, Emory was ultimately responsible.
“You didn’t know what you were doing,” Frankie said, her voice breaking. She knew, as did everyone else here, that her father was going to take the blame for poisoning the city of Detroit. And the humans were not going to be kind.
“I didn’t know that my son would attack me, either. That he sent his men—”
Whatever else Emory was going to say was never uttered.
Instead his eyes went wide with horror as Raoul sprang forward, teeth and claws bared.
Emory was too weak to react fast enough, and though Simon tried to step in between, he didn’t have the angle.
Everyone else was either too far away or was caught flat-footed.
Emory went down beneath his son’s assault.
Gunshots rang out, rapid and strong. Frankie screamed, “No!” and Ryan leapt forward to try and hold back his captain, but it was too late. Captain Abraham had pulled his weapon and gotten off three shots.
Raoul was dead, his wolf body bleeding from multiple wounds. Simon dropped down beside Emory, shoving the wolf aside to look beneath. But it was too late there, as well. Emory’s throat was gone, and his eyes stared blankly ahead.
Raoul had just killed his own father. Ryan didn’t know if it was an act of rage or mercy. Emory surely would have spent the rest of his life in prison. Either way, they were both dead now. Meanwhile, his captain was staring around in shock.
“What the hell is wrong with you people?” Captain Abraham bellowed. “Why would you bring wolves to a community center? God, they’re even dressed up like people.”
No one answered. No one except Frankie who cried out, the pain of her loss reverberating through the room.
Ryan grabbed her before she collapsed in grief.
Simon grabbed the captain’s gun, yanking it free with a shifter’s strength.
And then the others started to react. Children cried, parents murmured, and everyone did whatever they could to keep the situation contained.
But Ryan’s focus narrowed to his mate’s.
“I’ve got you,” he murmured as he held her tight. “I’m here. I’ve got you.”
Frankie gripped him, and her whole body shuddered from the force of her sobs.
He stayed with her then. He held her tight through the endless cleanup of the bodies, the interviews from the police, and the inevitable dispersal of her pack back to their own lives.
Nicole helped, as did Hazel, but so many questions were directed at her.
Why did Raoul do this? How could you mate with a bear?
What’s going to happen to the pack? How can we survive this?
She answered those she could; dismissed those she couldn’t. He ran interference with the police all while refusing to leave her side. Eventually it was done. The police interrogations were over, the pack had gone to their homes, and he was left with her.
They went to her apartment next to the community center. They dropped onto the bed and settled into the safe harbor of each other’s arms. And just before sleep claimed them, he whispered the truth into her ear.
“I love you.”
“‘Love’ feels like too small a word for what I feel for you,” she answered.
He knew exactly what she meant.